New and Improved Battery Busbar Assembly

The experienced team at Vulcan Industries Corporation offers custom assemblies to meet diverse client requirements. The following case study demonstrates how we utilized our tooling expertise to assemble a newly-designed product for our customer in a cost-efficient manner.

Project Overview

• Industry: Power storage

• Processes: Stamping, plating and assembly

• Company Background: Lithium-ion battery manufacturer

• Challenge: Review design, provide prototypes, and quote production quantities

• Assessment: The final product required stampings of numerous sizes to be assembled in between pieces of non-conductive material. The specialized process required for this project needed to address volumes from prototype to full production.

The Vulcan Solution – New Tooling Design, Material Selection, Custom Fixture and Workstation, Product Validation

A lithium-ion battery manufacturer approached Vulcan to manufacture and assemble their newly-designed product. The assembled product would connect numerous cells to a circuit without the possibility of shorting out closely-positioned cells in case an individual busbar is dropped during assembly. Production of diverse sizes of copper busbar stampings is relatively straightforward, but controlling tooling costs for low-volume production can be challenging.

This is how we made it happen:

• The tooling was designed to produce 3 sizes of busbars in one progressive stamping die.

• All 3 parts used the same size of coil material.

• Part production is controlled by feeding the material through the die in 1 of 3 fixed positions and adjusting the feed length accordingly.

• No tooling changes or costs are associated with running the family of 3 parts.

• The completed parts are then plated to allow for final assembly.

Assembly of the plated busbars required the selection of a non-conductive material and the development of a method to secure the busbars in place. A variety of materials were considered along with different retention methods. Final material selection parameters included lack of conductivity, rigidity, and adhesive strength. A custom fixture and workstation was developed to locate all the components and create the final assembly. Final product validation included torque and dielectric testing.

The Final Result – Performance and Cost Targets Achieved

The new assembly achieved the intended cost targets and provided the desired performance results.

At Vulcan Industries, we offer innovative manufacturing and assembly solutions to improve product quality while reducing cost. Contact us today to find out how we can help with your power storage solutions.